P476 - VIRTUAL TELE-MENTORING IN INTESTINAL FAILURE - 6 YEAR EXPERIENCE WITH THE LIFT-ECHO PROJECT

P476

VIRTUAL TELE-MENTORING IN INTESTINAL FAILURE - 6 YEAR EXPERIENCE WITH THE LIFT-ECHO PROJECT

K. Iyer^1,*, J. Lai², M. Winkler³, S. Kakani⁴, R. Friebel⁵, M. Nisenholtz¹, E. Fisher⁶, D. Gutierrez¹, K. Tappenden⁷ on behalf of LIFT-ECHO Project Team Members

¹Surgery/Transplant, ²Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Hospital;, New York, ³Surgery/Nutrition, Rhode Island Hopspital, Providence, ⁴Patient Advocacy, Alabama Rare, Huntsville, United States, ⁵Health Policy, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom, ⁶Evaluation, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, ⁷Nutrition, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States

Rationale: The principles of the ECHO™ model (https://echo.unm.edu/about-echo/model/), are grounded in case-based tele-learning, using video-conferencing technology. We launched the Learn Intestinal Failure TeleECHO Clinic (LIFT-ECHO) in May 2019, to improve learning in fundamentals of intestinal failure (IF) care, using video-conferencing technology. We report the ongoing engagement, reach and impact of the LIFT-ECHO program.

Methods: We established a virtual, tele-ECHO Clinic in IF with fidelity to the ECHO™ model. Each clinic lasts 60 minutes and has a didactic in IF, case presentation in IF and moderated discussion from participating ‘hubs’. All didactics are archived on our website (www.liftecho.org) and available for review. We conducted retrospective analysis of prospective data on the engagement with LIFT-ECHO. We also report on mixed-methods evaluation of the pediatric LIFT-ECHO (P-LIFT-ECHO).

Results: We have conducted 119 LIFT-ECHO Clinics with 77 adult and 42 pediatric clinics. Participants were from 48 states and 44 countries. Median number of participating sites for the first 8 modules were 118 (44-159 sites) with a median of 364 individual participants (118-504). 40% of participants are physicians and 35% are dietitians. Median annual viewership of archived didactics was 1381 views (231 – 1714 views). 45% of respondents in the P- LIFT-ECHO evaluation attended over 10 pediatric LIFT-ECHO sessions and 100% reported professional growth benefits from attendance. Over 90% reported new learning and 59% reported changing patient care (Figure 1).

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Conclusion: Our results confirm significant gaps in knowledge and expertise in IF care, being met by the LIFT-ECHO program.  Preliminary results suggest improvement in knowledge in IF using the ECHO™ model with case-based learning to master complexity in IF care. This is the first example of the ECHO™ model being used in an orphan, surgical disease.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared